A man suspected of driving drunk in Tacoma and causing a “minor” collision on Christmas Day that led to an 81-year-old woman’s death days later was charged Friday with DUI vehicular homicide.
Pierce County prosecutors accused Ren Ork, 37, of causing the two-vehicle wreck in the city’s South End at the intersection of Yakima Avenue and 84th Street. A bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
A toxicology report included in charging documents filed in Superior Court showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.26 when his blood was drawn about two hours after the wreck. The legal limit in Washington is 0.08.
The victim has not been publicly identified by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Ork was driving a Jeep Gladiator going west on 84th Street when he collided with a Nissan Maxima turning left onto 84th from northbound Yakima Avenue, charging documents allege. Ork allegedly told police he was turning left at the intersection.
A Tacoma Police Department officer noted in a report that the collision appeared minor and the involved vehicles didn’t have enough damage to raise immediate concern for life-threatening injuries. A collision investigation team was also not called out due to a time delay.
Two people were in the Nissan Maxima. The 81-year-old woman, a passenger, talked with Tacoma Fire Department personnel at the scene. According to the probable cause document she did not have obvious life-threatening injuries, but she was transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
On Dec. 26, the woman’s daughter told police her mother was in critical condition at Tacoma General Hospital and was having difficulty breathing. A CT scan reportedly found she had broken ribs. The woman was on life support, and she died two days later.
When Ork was contacted by police at the scene of the collision, an officer allegedly smelled alcohol on him, his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. He was not injured.
Asked if he’d had any alcoholic beverages that day, Ork allegedly told police he did not know. Records state he said he wanted to go to the hospital and did not want to answer any more questions. An officer told him he was under arrest for DUI.
At the hospital, Ork allegedly said he wanted to speak with an officer.
“When asked, [Ork] struggled to tell me how much he had to drink,” a police report states. “He stated, ‘One ... three beer - same same.’ I told him that he should not be drinking and driving, to which he replied, ‘I know.’”
After Ork was medically cleared from the hospital, he was booked into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of DUI. It’s unclear when he was released.
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